Topic on User talk:Dmehus

Anton (talkcontribs)

We have spambot again there Testwiki. (I blocked the account, no worries).

This newly blocked spambot has a talkpage with a "Welcome" message. What do we do with cases where the spambot has a talkpage and there is only a welcome? So the question is mainly because such talkpages should be removed, as well as locked globally? And do we have any policy or official guidance on Testwiki to send a Welcome message to new users. I have noticed recently a user of the sending welcome messages to new users.. And there’s nothing in it, but I might not find it worthwhile precisely because some of the new users are spambots. However, welcome is a beautiful gesture. Wouldn't it be worthwhile to introduce an automatic bot (extension) that automatically sends a Welcome message to new users? But the main topic is what we do with this spambot talkpage on Testwiki. Thanks.

Dmehus (talkcontribs)

Anton, thanks. I'll leave this topic open and you can just add to this list. When there's, say, 10 or more accounts to lock and investigate, I'll do that.

Dmehus (talkcontribs)

Anton, regarding your question, this.

Juslit (talkcontribs)

What are spambots? I don't even know who they are! How do you spot them?

Dmehus (talkcontribs)

Special:AbuseLog. They'll usually trigger, multiple times, global abuse filters governing anti-spam words and external links from new, non-autoconfirmed users.

Anton (talkcontribs)

Just like this. And thanks Dmehus, for the reply and talkpage removal. And Olipino, because no policies tell you to send a welcome (though beautiful), I don’t recommend sending them anymore. Precisely because there are unfortunately a large number of spambots and they need to be blocked, and finally the steward (like Dmehus) locks them globally.

Dmehus (talkcontribs)

Anton Yeah, I mean, Olipino can still send {{welcome}} messages, but just only to users who have made at least 1 edit on TestWiki. If they've made 0 edits, then yeah, it's best just to not send a welcome message.

Juslit (talkcontribs)

Noted:)

Dmehus (talkcontribs)

Anton I was going to leave this topic open, for the reason indicated here, so you could add additional spambots to the list, but if you'd prefer to list them elsewhere, that's fine, too. In any event, I am active enough on TestWiki to resolve my own topics. I'll wait to hear from you whether you'd prefer to list the spambots here, or elsewhere on TestWiki. Thanks.